Mmm.com

Food journalism is no longer the preserve of the professionals. These days some of the most enticing and informed writing - be it on grasshopper omelettes or the history of the fig roll - is to be found online. Kate Salter introduces six of the best food blogs

Orangette

Orangette is the creation of Molly, a pretty redhead based in Seattle. Food seems to be the reason for Molly's very existence and she can spend paragraphs waxing lyrical on the curve of a squash's neck or the ruby hue of a tomato. Orangette is a highly polished food blog, with beautiful photography, mouthwatering recipes and witty and eloquent writing (for which it won the best writing category in last year's Food Blog Awards)

"I tried to hold it off. I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy a squash until at least 1 October, if not later. I mean, there are still a few nectarines to be had, for crying out loud, and fat, pristine aubergines, fruits as big and heavy as my head, begging to be roasted and mashed. There's plenty to eat. There's no need for squash. But then, you know, there they were, the hard-shelled squash at the farmers' market on Saturday morning, and it was cloudy and cold, and they just looked so sad - bumping around in their big crates, with no cushions or canopy, no shelter to speak of. Those pesky butternuts, too, they know how to get to you. They've got those long, curvy necks, and they know just how to hook them over the side of the bin so that you'll see them there, peeking at you, giving you the eye.

I flicked on the oven and set to work with the peeler, slipping the squash out of its skin. Then I chopped it into coarse hunks - so reassuring, I was reminded, the sound of the knife as it clears that dense, rich flesh to meet the cutting-board again - and then tossed it in the oven with some olive oil, crushed garlic and allspice. While it roasted I whisked up a sauce of tahini, lemon, garlic and olive oil, drained a can of chickpeas, and took a few whacks at a bunch of coriander. By the time I sat down to eat I was feeling almost pleased with that butternut squash for having pulled a fast one on me. Under a thin blanket of tahini sauce, with some crisp onion and coriander to cheer things along, the spiced squash cosied up to the chickpeas as though the two were old pals." orangette.blogspot.com

Deep End Dining

The authors describe themselves as 'diners dedicated to seeking and devouring the food uncommon, the cuisine exotic and the entrées less ordered'. Run by Eddie Lin (a 'breakdancer turned writer'), Megan McCormick and Eric Alba, this blog is the culinary equivalent of the daredevil stunt show Jackass. Eddie and co make a point of eating the most disgusting thing on any menu. They photograph the dish, describe every mouthful in gory detail and will eat anything - live octopus tentacles, crickets, even duck foetus

"Welcome to the restaurant La Morenita Oaxaqueña where they serve chapulines, grasshoppers that are fried or barbecued then seasoned with garlic, chillis and lemon. If the grasshoppers aren't cooked thoroughly, your chapulines quesadilla could include extra squirmy surprises like parasitic roundworms. Make mine well done, por favor. When my chapulines empanada arrived it looked innocent and inviting; it was also very big, taking up about two-thirds of the large plate. The tortilla was appetisingly browned. It generously bulged with whatever was stuffed into it. I carefully unsealed the edges of the empanada like a lover's Valentine, then I peeled back the tortilla with equal tenderness. Once the empanada's insides were exposed to the light of day, all my gentle foreplay seemed ridiculous, for what was on my plastic plate was a small swarm of locusts. The display was also oddly primeval, with one of the grasshopper's legs entangled in melted Oaxaca cheese like some dinosaur trapped in white, gooey tar." www.deependdining.com

David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz is something of a celebrity in the food-blog world. An American pastry chef who for 15 years worked at Alice Waters's famous restaurant Chez Panisse in California, Lebovitz moved to Paris five years ago. His blog covers the many idiosyncrasies of Parisians and the infinite number of sweet delicacies lurking on every corner of the city. It is sure to make you want to leap on the nearest Eurostar and spend a weekend gorging at Lebovitz's favourite haunts. Voted best chef's food blog in 2006.

"The best madeleines in the world are right here in Paris. I've never been one of those people who waxed poetically about them, invoking Proust's name whenever I could. But although I don't have nostalgic ties to madeleines, I do like the idea of something a bit buttery, with a gilded crust, relatively portable, and not too sweet for my afternoon goûter - or le snack, as it's often referred to around town. Perhaps because it's far from the madding crowds, prices at Blé Sucré [Square Trousseau, 12ème] are very reasonable but the quality is unquestionably high. I'm not going to tell you about the deeply dark home-made caramels with salted butter, or the shatteringly flaky croissants that coincidentally seem to be coming out of the oven whenever I walk in the door. Nor will I mention the sacks full of tender little almond financiers, or the freezer full of house-made ice-creams that appeared just last week. But these madeleines are all that a madeleine should be: tender little cakes with the fine flavour of soft French flour and bronzed with a butter crust. But the icing on the cake (or should I say the icing on the madeleine?) is the light citrussy glaze that moistens and elevates the m from being something ordinary to being the moist, yet delicately dainty little cakes that writers rhapsodise about." davidlebovitz.com

Chez Pim

Jet-setting Pim Techamuanvivit has had a cult following since she started her blog six years ago. Born in Bangkok but now living in San Francisco, Pim eats in Michelin-starred restaurants around the world - she visited the Fat Duck in Bray, El Bulli in Spain and Michel Bras in France in the space of a week. She photographs every dish and describes each morsel with a restaurant critic's attention to detail. As well as her favourite recipes, the blog has stories of Pim's culinary adventures around the world and tips on who does the best anything anywhere

"The scene was a dark parking lot, somewhere in Monte Carlo. We had been waiting impatiently for a mysterious figure, known only as the Truffle Don. The Truffle Don is something of a legend amongst those in the know up and down the Riviera. He always travels with a driver, who looks to me more like a bodyguard. He sells the best truffles. Only white. And only from Alba.

Our references were required, and evidently thoroughly checked, before he would agree on a time and place to meet. At last we received the instruction to meet him - and to bring cash, lots of it. Finally, a brand-new Mercedes pulled up. A pot-bellied, balding Italian man stepped out. He was very well dressed, wearing a pair of expensive shoes so highly polished they shimmered in the dark. The Don opened the trunk and the pungent scent of white truffles hit our noses. Inside the portable coolers were what looked like a few pebbles covered in dust, but that unmistakable stink betrayed their real identity. We sniffed, squeezed and passed a few around until we found the two we liked most, all the while watched ever so carefully by the driver. Out came a precise digital scale and on went the truffles. The two we wanted weighed in at 100g - just about €200. That was certainly at wholesale price. Our connection was better than even we had realised." chezpim.typepad.com

Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

NCOTAASD, as it is known, is a light-hearted journey around one man's very British obsession - tea and biscuits. Written by someone called Nicey, it contains musings on subjects such as whether the jaffa cake is actually a biscuit, the new KitKat wrapper and where to get the best supermarket fig roll. There are odes to beloved discontinued biscuits and an in-depth biscuit-of-the-week review

"Since time began, mankind has tried to harness the power of the fig. The Egyptians built massive fig plantations all along the River Nile to satisfy their massive fig appetites, I expect. The Greeks, on the other hand, probably captured Phoenician fig ships in Jason-and-the-Argonauts-style ships, and took all the figs home for enormous fig parties. The Romans simply invaded your country, enslaved the populace and forced them to pick figs, I would guess. Today in the 21st century we have many wonders - Super Glue, the interweb, extra-absorbent kitchen towel that stays strong even when wet and, of course, the fig roll, which has all the goodness of figs and the convenience of biscuits. In our homage to the fig roll we have undertaken the most comprehensive fig-roll review in history, using a team of specialist biscuit hunters who travelled thousands of miles and put themselves at some considerable risk to secure the review biscuits." www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com

Lobstersquad

Ximena Maier, a young illustrator from Madrid, doesn't profess to be an accomplished cook and says the reason she spends a lot of time in her kitchen is because it's the nicest room in her flat. Lobstersquad is one of the few blogs to use drawings rather than photographs, and Maier's funny, quirky sketches bring to life her thoughts on chickpeas and how to create an authentic tortilla

"Omelettes, our tortillas (nothing like their Mexican namesakes), are one of the most popular dishes for dinner. The most common noise you'll hear drifting on the evening wind is the clickety-clack of 1,000 forks beating 10,000 eggs. Potato omelette (of which more another day) is the most famous, and the one that has the name of Spanish omelette, but it's just one of many. The difference with frittatas and omelettes is that tortillas require nerves of steel. Blood must be summoned, upper lip stiffened, oven mitts worn and prayers said. Please understand that the Italian method of starting on the stove top and ending under the grill is strictly for little girls. Likewise the French sissified folding thing. A true tortilla is round, and golden from contact with the well oiled pan on both sides - which can be tricky." lobstersquad.blogspot.com